09/06/2026
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20
LOVING NEIGHBOR AS A STEWARD AND CO-CREATOR OF GOD
The New York Times featured a photograph of a gravely emaciated child—down to skin and bone—in the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia (August 2, 2011). At first sight, it looked like a skillful painter’s depiction of a child of poverty: suffering, despairing, and dying. The child’s condition, portrayed in the detailed pictorial presentation, looked shocking and unnatural to be a true rendition of human existence. But the critically impoverished child was one of over 500,000 children deprived of food, in a den of starvation, and on the brink of death.
The inside page of the same newspaper showed another photograph that could be termed “The African Mother of Sorrows!” It was a woman, lean to the bone from starvation, outstretching a hand to touch her motionless, emaciated, and skeletal child who was on the verge of death. The photograph, also resembling an impressionist’s work of art, depicted the gravity and stench of human suffering.
A third picture showed a visibly horrified, distressed, and helpless man “gently carrying a small package in his arms wrapped in blue cloth,” looking “almost like a swaddled newborn,” but it was not the case. The cloth carried “the body of his 3-year-old daughter, Kadija, who had just succumbed to measles.”
The famine in the Shaba territory in Somalia that year was one of the most horrific, affecting several people in their death throes. The situation worsened from insurgents mired in political struggles in the region. All this had exacerbated a difficult situation, blocking thousands of starving women, men, children, and domestic animals from leaving the area or getting needed access to aid. The newspaper article further reported that emaciated parents with malnourished babies—chests exposing visible ribs with hands hanging weakly—were crowding the hospitals for medical care, food, and water.
The world community, churches, charity donors, and individuals have always shown concern in Somalia and other areas with similar conditions and responded to the urgent need to assist the needy and dying. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops appealed to their priests and the lay faithful to contribute to a special solidarity fund established to provide food, water, and sanitation supplies to the people “facing an uncertain future.” The bishops asked for God’s blessing on the faithful in their singular effort to “reach out to help our brothers and sisters in East Africa.” They echoed Pope Benedict’s clarion call at the time to the Catholic community and the entire world to assist the people of East Africa.
The common theme underlying today’s liturgy is that God is present among his people and concerned that his children will live in harmony and peace as brothers and sisters, correcting and forgiving each other, and caring for one another especially the poor, sick, needy, neglected, and underprivileged throughout the world. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them.” We often quote the verse when we gather to pray, reminding ourselves of Jesus’ presence, but Jesus goes beyond the context of community prayer. Jesus is Emmanuel, “God is with us.” Jesus shares his spirit with us, both as individuals and as a community. This is our faith. We can therefore pray as individuals or with the community for God’s forgiveness, assistance, and favors.
We also pray that God would take us from temptation, establish justice and peace on earth, and praise him for his glory and goodness in our lives. The verse is about God’s close connection with the community or the church in handling disputes and other human concerns. Jesus gives some guidelines to follow: talk to the offender, get two or three others to intervene, consult with the church community, and if none of the protocols work, let the person be on his or her own. The disciples would have been familiar with having two or three witnesses in a dispute (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus involves the church in disputes, and he promises a divine presence throughout the process of solving issues. The Church must do everything possible to bring back a lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14), and, if possible, pronounce justice. Because Jesus is spiritually present in the church, the decisions of the church would be binding both on earth and in heaven. But the church or the individual must forgive and reconcile with the offender like the master who was merciful to his debtor (Matthew 18:22-35).
Again, Peter speaks the mind of the rest, asking Jesus if one must forgive an offender seven times, a recommendation well known in the Jewish culture. Jesus replies, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven,” and tells them the story of the forgiven Master. Jesus means we must love and forgive as many times as we are offended, as the Book of Lamentations says God’s mercy and faithful forgiveness comes to us abundantly fresh like the morning and as sure as sunrise (Lamentations 3:22-23). Jesus ends the parable by saying that because of God’s copious mercy to us, we too must forgive from our hearts (Matthew 18:35).
All religions hold the belief that human values, concerns, and abilities originate from God and, therefore, are intrinsic to the human being (Jeremiah 31:33). His commandments express these ideals as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. God’s supernatural presence and influence is at the core of human life and must affect our interconnectedness and decision-making. As Christians, we are called to live in a close relationship with Jesus, the Son of God, in a bond which should be so intimate as to grow into his life. The core of Jesus’ life was love, and he gave his life away to save us. In the same way, those who are in union with Jesus must live in that very self-giving love that animated his life. Christians must readily show love and give their lives to their brothers and sisters (1 John 3:16). We express love in concrete ways and not merely in good intentions and kind thoughts. Our claim to love God must be tested by our concrete charity to our fellow human beings (1 John 3:18).
Saint Paul says in the second reading that our singular obligation to other people is to love them and work for their good. We do not restrict the responsibility and commitment to love to those who share our beliefs. It extends beyond ethnicity and political boundaries. It is our duty, Saint Paul says, to advise and correct those who think otherwise to repent and grow the love of God and neighbor. Our love must reach victims of disasters everywhere in the world, whether they be tsunamis, earthquakes, violent winds and floods, or wars, poverty, and famine.
Dr. Bruce Charash, a great friend with a Jewish background, believes that there will be total peace and stability in the entire world if we would love God, listen to the message of Jesus Christ, and serve God by living in peace with one another and taking care of the rest of God’s creation. We are to intensify the concept of the Christian obligation of love, widen its range of operation, and spread it throughout the world by engaging in acts of love and caring for all people, especially the unloved, the sick, the aged, the marginalized, and starving children. This would be our way of assisting God in establishing his kingdom on Earth, comprising of the suffering in Somalia, the underprivileged in the forests of Brazil, and the dying in Afghanistan. Created in the image and divine likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), and sharing in His spiritual life, the ruah of God (2:7), humankind is rendered stewards and co-creator with God to ensure that the perfect physicality of creation will be maintained and sustained against the backdrop of evil and its forces working against God’s purpose. Thus, “humans are meant to join God in further creating reality” (Patrick Engler, 2023), “and thus possessed of a special dignity which enables them, by the work of their hands, to reflect God’s own creative activity” (Saint Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, 4). Engler, (2023), again quotes human beings “are meant to be ‘co-workers’ with God, using their knowledge and skill to shape a cosmos in which the divine plane constantly moves towards fulfilment” (Gaudium et Spes, 34). Indeed, our divine likeness and graced humanity as stewards and co-workers are revealed and made possible in Jesus Christ.
How can you show love, care, and concern to those you may not know? To those you may not realize are your brothers and sisters; and to any or all of God’s children?
During the week, think of what you as God’s steward and co-creator, can do. What concrete steps you can take to make someone’s burden or worry just a little lighter?
Think about how you can become God’s co-creator to the lonely and distressed in a narcissistic, out of kilter, corrupt, and broken world of hate, division, prejudice, and fighting.
The Peace of the Lord be with you.
Prayer
Father, Your Son teaches that Christians must cheerfully show love and give their lives to their brothers and sisters. Help each of us to show love and support to all, especially those suffering or in need. Amen.
